Year 5 Opal Class

Amy Antony Img 0276
Miss Antony Miss Bond 
Class Teacher Teaching Assistant

Summer Term Two

We started the term by taking part in BET Green Week, where we explored sustainability and learned about the SuDS planters around our school, investigating their purpose and importance. As part of this week, the children also made rain gauges to support their instructional writing.

We also took part in Refugee Week, during which the children attended a workshop and had the opportunity to create a verse for a whole-school poem. They then brought this learning back into the classroom, where they wrote beautiful poems inspired by Jelabi by Lucy Lepchani.

The children had the fantastic opportunity to perform at Grange Park Opera alongside two other schools and a professional orchestra. Everyone sang beautifully and confidently, making us all incredibly proud.

We were also visited by a professional athlete, who led an inspiring workshop about their training and achievements. The children enjoyed taking part in a variety of exercises and learning about the dedication required to succeed in sport.

In Geography, the children were challenged to create a persuasive pitch encouraging more people to visit Chertsey. They all did a phenomenal job, demonstrating excellent creativity and communication skills.

The children also took part in a range of fun maths challenges, which encouraged them to think creatively, solve problems collaboratively and showcase their teamwork skills.

Overall, everyone in Opal Class should be extremely proud of everything they have accomplished this half term. Well done on a brilliant year!


Summer Term One

The children became creative writers, retelling the story Cinderella of the Nile and crafting beautiful setting descriptions of a Mayan jungle inspired by their guided reading book, Curse of the Maya. They also took on the role of sports commentators, reporting on the high-diving giraffes, where they showcased both their humour and enthusiasm for sport.

In maths, we explored angles, coordinates and decimals. During National Numeracy Week, we took part in an exciting maths trail around the playground. The children measured sheds, identified angles hidden in nature and created their own shapes.

In science, we studied how humans change over time, focusing on the different stages of development from babies to adults.

In DT, we created pop-up books based on Jack and Jill. We explored a variety of pop-up mechanisms, including sliders and pivots, and the children produced some wonderful artwork for their pages.

We also enjoyed an exciting trip to Haslemere Museum to mark the end of our Egyptians unit. We saw a real sarcophagus and even mummified animals. The children also had the opportunity to mummify a life-sized doll, putting all of their learning into practice.


Spring Term Two

What a busy and exciting half term it has been for Year 5!
After weeks of anticipation, the children finally took to the stage to perform Macbeth in front of their family and friends. They acted with confidence, energy, and real professionalism — a truly proud moment for everyone in Year 5.

In Science, we explored the fascinating life cycles of different animals. The children created engaging and informative videos showing the life cycle of an insect and produced diagrams.

In Writing, the children produced a non-chronological report about the Ancient Egyptians. Building on our Science learning, they also investigated the life cycle of a sea turtle and wrote a character description inspired by the Egyptian Cinderella, Rhodopis.

Our History lessons continued to focus on Ancient Egypt. The children had great fun learning about the development of pyramids, designing their own fact-file pyramids and learning about how this remarkable civilisation came to an end.

In French, we learnt how to take part in basic conversations and even practised ordering food — a fun way to build our confidence in speaking another language!


Spring Term One 

This has been an exciting half term for Year 5! They had the amazing opportunity to watch a live production of Macbeth performed by professional actors. Some of the children even had the chance to take part in the play and act alongside the wonderful cast. We also received valuable advice from the actors to help us prepare for our own performance, which the children have been working tirelessly on.

During art, the children have been designing and creating the set and props for our production. In writing, we researched the extraordinary life of William Shakespeare and wrote a biography about him. In guided reading, we continued to explore Macbeth by reading a retelling of the story by Andrew Matthews and Tony Ross.

In science, we became scientists and tested the magnetism of different materials, investigated which materials conduct electricity, and explored which ones make the best thermal insulators.

In maths, we learned new methods for completing multiplication and division calculations and expanded our knowledge of fractions and decimals.

It has been a fantastic half term full of creativity, curiosity, and hard work!


Autumn Term Two

A busy half term for Opal class! The children have had the chance to step into the role of reporters, investigating and writing about the impacts of flooding on the environment and the people who live there.

During Maths Week, they became architects, designing their own cities using 3D shapes. In Science, they transformed into a live model of our solar system, researching and presenting fascinating facts to the rest of the class.

They demonstrated incredible teamwork and resilience when creating doodlers—combining their learning about electrical systems with the practical skills developed in DT.

We were also thrilled to see the brilliant water cycle models that the children produced for their October half-term project.


Autumn Term One

An active half term for year 5’s! This half term year 5 explored air resistance by planning, conducting and evaluating experiments with paper aeroplanes and parachutes. They worked brilliantly in their groups to create parachutes with different surface areas to answer the question “Does the size of a parachute affect the time it takes for it to fall to the ground?

We’ve also had the chance explore a range of different books and learn about each other’s interests through book talk.